Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire came under intense questioning in the Senate over allegations that Sh10 million meant for a county development project was used to fund a boda boda-focused political event.
Lawmakers raised concerns about mismanagement of public funds and the impact on key county projects.
The money was originally allocated to the County Aggregated Industrial Park, a flagship project aimed at creating jobs and boosting local economic growth. However, the Senate Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that the funds were redirected to support a boda boda summit attended by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
Governor Mbarire appeared before the committee to respond to audit queries covering the financial year that ended on June 30, 2025. Senators pressed her on why funds from a special-purpose account were used for a political programme while the industrial park remained incomplete.
During her testimony, the governor admitted to the diversion, explaining that the county faced pressure to fulfil promises made to boda boda groups.
“We had what we were calling a boda boda summit where we were launching boda boda saccos, and we didn’t have the money,” she said.
“Yet we had already promised that we were going to give the saccos some money, and so we used the money to give the boda boda saccos,” she told the senators.
Committee members criticized the decision, citing a blatant disregard for public finance rules. PAC chair Moses Kajwang’ compared the Embu case with a recent incident in Vihiga County, where funds were reportedly used for a private housewarming.
“I think this one is worse,” Kajwang’ said.
“Such borrowing cannot be accepted. It was an illegality, and we must make that determination as such,” he added.
County Aggregated Industrial Parks receive joint funding from national and county governments to stimulate economic development.
The national government’s contribution is approved by Parliament through the County Additional Allocation Act. Kajwang’ also warned that some counties had misused donor-funded initiatives, including FLLoCA and KDSP, citing Kakamega, Kajiado, and Nyamira counties, which were barred from accessing FLLoCA funds due to similar issues.
The committee noted that Governor Mbarire and other officials could face financial penalties for the illegal transaction. Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna urged strict accountability, stressing that deliberate violations of the law must be punished.
“These are individuals from Embu who broke the law knowingly, and they deserve appropriate punishment,” he said.
Governor Mbarire appealed for understanding, insisting it was the first such incident in Embu County.
“It is the first time we did it in Embu County. We did it under immense pressure, and I want to promise this House that we will never do it again,” she said.
PAC also questioned the county’s failure to provide essential procurement documents for the industrial park project. The Auditor-General’s report indicated Sh219 million had been paid from the project account during the year under review, but tender files, payment vouchers, project records, bid documents, and financing agreements were missing.
The governor attributed the missing records to a fire that destroyed the county finance offices during violent protests in Embu town.
“Regrettably, the tender documents were among the records destroyed in an arson attack on government premises in June during the 2023–2024 period,” she explained.
Senators probed how the county continued to make payments after losing the original documents.
“If you made payments amounting to Sh219 million after the fire, then you must have based them on some documents, yet the fire occurred in June 2023,” Kajwang’ asked.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei asked if the county reported the arson to the police and requested the occurrence book number. He also sought details on measures taken to reconstruct the destroyed records.
Governor Mbarire responded that the county relied on duplicate procurement files to process payments and confirmed that police were aware of the incident, although no arrests had been made.
